Which path to follow within IT - Management vs Technical?
Discussion
I'm already within the field carrying out a helpdesk/1st line support role for a large outsourcing company,and looking at getting my career further,fairly young at 24 still as well, with an MCP on XP to my name,with work paying for ITIL and hopefully Prince2.
Before I got into the field,I always wanted to go down the networking route and get into the Cisco side of things,but now that i've had my eye's opened further and seeing chanage/problem/incident manager jobs,along with project manager position's,i'm trying to decide on what path to follow.
I planned on doing the MCSA and then going over to CCNA,however now i'm considering not to "bother" with that no more and focus on getting into a project management position or similar role,have a friend who works for Symantec and he has recommended me to try and get into pre-sales engineering.
I commute 110miles a day and don't get much time to study during the weekdays,and not a great deal of time on weekend's either,studying through work give's me time to learn that while not having to deal with user's.
I don't mind,and still want to learn the CCNA and rest of MCSA as I've got an interest in it.
Just looking for thoughts,advise on what else is out there and what people would decide to do?
Before I got into the field,I always wanted to go down the networking route and get into the Cisco side of things,but now that i've had my eye's opened further and seeing chanage/problem/incident manager jobs,along with project manager position's,i'm trying to decide on what path to follow.
I planned on doing the MCSA and then going over to CCNA,however now i'm considering not to "bother" with that no more and focus on getting into a project management position or similar role,have a friend who works for Symantec and he has recommended me to try and get into pre-sales engineering.
I commute 110miles a day and don't get much time to study during the weekdays,and not a great deal of time on weekend's either,studying through work give's me time to learn that while not having to deal with user's.
I don't mind,and still want to learn the CCNA and rest of MCSA as I've got an interest in it.
Just looking for thoughts,advise on what else is out there and what people would decide to do?
Thank's for the insight's so far,my current position is my first "proper" job after having a dozen or so student job's over the last 8 year's around the retail market,so i'm still finding my feet in what I think I can,and want to do.
I've heard about that book a few time's now,do think it's worth me buying it now,or loan a copy for a read through.
I'm a hands on type of person,like to get involved and get things done,I would say i'm fairly technical,could get much better with practise & experience,however i'm also quite good at organising and arranging things to get done,like car meet's/event's and trip's abroad with friends (they're not on a work scale but everthing i've done has always gone down with ease and got people to do things if/when I needed them to do stuff.)
I'm based right behind the MIM team at work,and also have the Problem/Change management team's on the same floor,my desk is seperated from the rest of the service desk by those teams,and I've seen them carry out their roles and how they process cases/requests etc
I should be entitled to get work to put me onto a Prince2 course as they already offer it to other staff that are in management/team leader roles,though would need ITIL which i'm just in the process of finishing off now,though will also consider and will do other courses if I need to progress further.
My friend from Symantec did tell me that I'd need Prince2 at the minimum level of qualification,and would then need to shadow someone for a while before I would be let loose on my own if I was to get into a position within that company.
On a side note,I've also got an itch to work abroad,so would ideally need a PM qualification that is recognised world wide,and not just within the UK,i've read the other Prince2 topic's already.
Again,thanks for the help and advise,interesting to see the view's and experience of people who are within the position's that I'm considering
I've heard about that book a few time's now,do think it's worth me buying it now,or loan a copy for a read through.
I'm a hands on type of person,like to get involved and get things done,I would say i'm fairly technical,could get much better with practise & experience,however i'm also quite good at organising and arranging things to get done,like car meet's/event's and trip's abroad with friends (they're not on a work scale but everthing i've done has always gone down with ease and got people to do things if/when I needed them to do stuff.)
I'm based right behind the MIM team at work,and also have the Problem/Change management team's on the same floor,my desk is seperated from the rest of the service desk by those teams,and I've seen them carry out their roles and how they process cases/requests etc
I should be entitled to get work to put me onto a Prince2 course as they already offer it to other staff that are in management/team leader roles,though would need ITIL which i'm just in the process of finishing off now,though will also consider and will do other courses if I need to progress further.
My friend from Symantec did tell me that I'd need Prince2 at the minimum level of qualification,and would then need to shadow someone for a while before I would be let loose on my own if I was to get into a position within that company.
On a side note,I've also got an itch to work abroad,so would ideally need a PM qualification that is recognised world wide,and not just within the UK,i've read the other Prince2 topic's already.
Again,thanks for the help and advise,interesting to see the view's and experience of people who are within the position's that I'm considering
Do you like dealing with people? - Yes
Do you like influencing people? - Like to advise and get people to see the broader picture and not focused just upon their view,but yes i guess?
Would you like to lead a team? - Have lead team's before while being a team leader at previous retail based jobs, and enjoyed it
Do you like solving peoples problems? - Yes like to help people where I can and give assistance where possible
Can you put up with the politic of the workplace? - Yes, I don't bring work home with me 99% of the time and the second i'm out of the building I'm not in "work" mode no more, seen enough happen since I've started with this company, and from previous positions
So,how difficult is project management? Spoke to my friend last night and he still recommending me to get into Pre-sales engineering role before getting into a PM position,if I do that is..
Do you like influencing people? - Like to advise and get people to see the broader picture and not focused just upon their view,but yes i guess?
Would you like to lead a team? - Have lead team's before while being a team leader at previous retail based jobs, and enjoyed it
Do you like solving peoples problems? - Yes like to help people where I can and give assistance where possible
Can you put up with the politic of the workplace? - Yes, I don't bring work home with me 99% of the time and the second i'm out of the building I'm not in "work" mode no more, seen enough happen since I've started with this company, and from previous positions
So,how difficult is project management? Spoke to my friend last night and he still recommending me to get into Pre-sales engineering role before getting into a PM position,if I do that is..
Getting people to do what I want - Yes I would say that I have done that before and can and will do that again if I needed to.
I live in Birmingham but commute to Derby daily for work,based near Pride Park currently.
Have been keeping an eye on jobs on those site's,but never for pre-sales or PM position's but generally helpdesk/support based roles,though will be expanding what I search for now.
Again,thanks for the help - Will keep everyone posted on what I do and where I am,I've set my goals for where I want to be in 6 month's and would like to acheive that.
I live in Birmingham but commute to Derby daily for work,based near Pride Park currently.
Have been keeping an eye on jobs on those site's,but never for pre-sales or PM position's but generally helpdesk/support based roles,though will be expanding what I search for now.
Again,thanks for the help
- Will keep everyone posted on what I do and where I am,I've set my goals for where I want to be in 6 month's and would like to acheive that.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff